SelenaQuintanilla Wiki:How to expand an article
Some of Selena Wikipedia's articles are comprehensive from their inception, but most begin as stubs and ideally grow into well-written, comprehensive articles. This page describes the stages in the life of an article, and lists the ways in which you can help an article grow into the next stage. Skipping stages is not only allowed—it is encouraged! The following categories should give you an idea of how articles typically grow on Selena Wikipedia. Stages of an article Uncreated articles Every article starts with an idea in the mind of a contributor. You can create articles about anything, as long as they belong in Selena Wikipedia. It is a good idea to , so you are sure there has not been an article on the subject; if there is, a redirect may be appropriate. If you see a red link that strikes your fancy, create an article! (If you've not created an article before, see the tutorial.) Before you start, it's helpful to read the rules and guidelines on creating new articles to get an idea of what you should consider—such matters as the scope, format, references, and NPOV in a Selena Wikipedia article. Good ways to find articles to create: *Wanted pages Stubs If you do not have the time to write a full article, consider writing a "stub". Stubs are very short articles — generally just a few sentences. These are the "ugly ducklings" of Selena Wikipedia. With effort, they can grow into "swans". Good ways to find and grow stubs: *Category:Article stubs **Category:Song stubs **Category:Album stubs * * * Developing articles Once a stub has real content, it is a real article. The vast majority of articles fall into this category. They may have weaknesses, and you are encouraged to copyedit them and, where you have the knowledge or do the necessary research, to add content. Good ways to find and improve developing articles: *Category:All pages needing cleanup *Category:Articles needing attention *Category:Multiple issues articles *Category:All orphaned articles ;Good articles *Good articles ;How to get great articles up to featured quality *Peer review *Selected article candidates Selected article The selected articles are what we believe to be the best articles in Selena Wikipedia. Before promotion to selected status, articles are reviewed at selected article candidates for compelling prose, accuracy, neutrality, and completeness, according to our selected article criteria. Once an article is certified as selected, it joins an exclusive group of featured content. The article could also receive the distinction of being featured on the Main Page. Before the article is scheduled to appear on the main page, it should receive a last review and polishing where possible. Selected articles present our best work to people who might not know about Selena. This is an excellent way to recruit new people to start editing and reading. Selected articles are well polished, but there are usually small improvements that can be made. Do not ever be afraid to correct mistakes or update information when you see an opportunity; few articles are perfect, even though perfection is always our goal. We have a formal procedure for encouraging fans to review and improve selected articles: Selected Article Review. Selected articles *This Month's Selected Article *Selected articles *Selected article review What constitutes a selected article *Selected article criteria Writing Start your article with a concise lead section or introduction defining the topic at hand and mentioning the most important points. The reader should be able to get a good overview by only reading the lead, which should be between one and four paragraphs long, depending on the length of the article. (see WP:LEAD) Remember that, although you will be familiar with the subject you are writing about, readers of Selena Wikipedia may not be, so it is important to establish the context of your article's subject early on. For instance, if you are writing an article about a Selena album, write down the main aspects and establish who people are in the article. Example "Selena's brother and main songwriter, A.B. Quintanilla III, had written one song for the album" don't write "A.B. Quintanilla III had written only one song for the album". A person who never knew who Selena was and wanted information, wouldn't instantly know who A.B. Quintanilla III is. Try to get your spelling right. Selena Wikipedia does not contain a spell checker, but you can write and spell-check your article first in a word processor or text editor (which is a lot more comfortable than the Selena Wikipedia text-box anyway) and then paste it into said text-box. Another option is an extension (such as ieSpell for Internet Explorer or SpellBound for Mozilla and old versions of Firefox – Firefox 2 and up feature built-in spell checking) that can be installed on your web browser and used as a spell checker in text boxes. Keep the article in an encyclopedic style: add etymology or provenance (when available), look for analogies and eventual comparisons to propose. Be objective: avoid personal comments (or turn them into general statements, but only when they coincide), do not use personal forms (I found that...). The Manual of Style can help you with your English. Try to avoid using euphemisms, such as "passed away" for "died", or "made love" for "had sexual intercourse". At the end, you should list the references you used and the best available external links about the topic. These references are what will allow Selena Wikipedia to be the most trusted, reliable resource it can be. Finishing touches Finish the article with a good relevant image or graphic. Many copyright-free image sources are listed at our Free images list. Please do not link to images on other servers; instead use the . The sizing of images and other issues concerning images in articles are set out in our image policy. One way to get a good article is to bounce it back and forth between several fans opinions on the way the article looks like. Use the Talk pages to refine the topic, ask for their confirmations, note their doubts: it is usually interesting to discover that, perhaps from the other side of the planet, after a while, some other contributors can check other sources, or propose different interpretations. The composition of a commonly agreed interpretation is the most important ingredient of a serious Selena Wikipedia article. Do not neglect the External links and References sections. The most useful and accurate material that you have found with your Internet research might make good links for a reader, too. In addition, sometimes a standard work is mentioned repeatedly in connection with your topic. Mention it, with its author and publication date. Even better, obtain a copy and use it to check the material in the article. In addition, remember to create links to your article from related articles and subjects. This includes any redirects your article may need, for instance redirects for other capitalizations of your article title, abbreviations, plural versions, alternative spellings or common misspellings. This helps people to find your article and may even help you find a related, already-written article. You can also create redirects from related subjects or subtopics which do not yet have their own articles. Peer review You are encouraged to ask for feedback about the quality of an article at any time. Ask your fellow editors for their opinions, list outstanding issues and areas to improve on article talk pages, get other editors involved. Networking to identify like-minded fans is one of the most important (and enjoyable) aspects of the project. It is best to have a reasonably well-developed article before you do this, so that those giving feedback have something substantial to analyze. Peer review is the normal route for evaluating articles.